(Spirit Lake)– A New Jersey woman is in the Dickinson county jail for allegedly defrauding an 89-year-old Milford woman out of thousands of dollars.
65-year-old Fanny Singer of Paterson, New Jersey was charged with ongoing criminal conduct, a class “B” felony; forgery…a class “D” felony; identity theft involving more than $1,500 but under $10,000…a class “D” felony; theft in the 2nd degree…also a class “D” felony; and theft in the 2nd degree against an older individual…a class “C” felony.
A criminal complaint filed by the Okoboji Police Department accuses Singer of entering a bank in Okoboji on May 23rd of this year and allegedly presenting a fraudulent passport ID card to a teller that had the name of a current account holder with the correct spelling of the name and date of birth. The complaint states that Singer was successful in obtaining $8,200 from the bank teller.
The complaint also alleges that Singer then went to a bank in Terril and presented a separate fraudulent I.D card and attempted to withdraw $9,600, but left after being unable to make the transaction.
The complaint states that on each occasion, Singer was brought to the area of each respective bank and walked into them. After leaving the banks, she was seen leaving the parking lot and was seen being picked up in a vehicle off bank property.
The complaint goes on to state that throughout the investigation, it was determined Singer was allegedly acting in part with a criminal enterprise from New York that conducts the schemes across the U.S at multiple banks.
Singer is being held in the Dickinson county jail on a $50,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for October 27th.
